I feel like the lighting is what "changed" the colours of the hat so much. There's two shots of him in the hat - one walking past Simon and Kaylee, and another long shot as he's walking away with Mal. It's the same hat shape, and I remember it having divisions in shading where The Hat does. But in that shot, basically everything is poorly lit except for Simon and Kaylee having their conversation, so the Hat is in low, blue-green light, which would make it look browner.

I also cannot imagine why they'd put him in a hat for thirty seconds and not have it be The Hat, especially since he doesn't wear it in the next scene, so it's clearly just a cameo to for a small, select group of people - perhaps the fans?

I feel like the lighting is what "changed" the colours of the hat so much. ...the Hat is in low, blue-green light, which would make it look browner.

I also cannot imagine why they'd put him in a hat for thirty seconds and not have it be The Hat, especially since he doesn't wear it in the next scene, so it's clearly just a cameo to for a small, select group of people - perhaps the fans?

The hat goes down lower on the neck, like a tibeten (sp) hat, and not like earflaps in the movie. That's why I assumed it was different. Okay, who has bittorrented the movie and got screenshots? heheh!